Pelosi household discloses up to $12M Bloom Energy bet weeks before stock jumped 40%
What's the deal? Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disclosed a Bloom Energy investment worth between $3 million and $12 million weeks before the fuel-cell maker was added to the S&P 500, sending its shares sharply higher. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, owned the accounts behind the trades, per a transaction report she signed on August 21.
The details: On July 24, the household account bought 10,000 shares and 100 call options, each purchase valued between $1 million and $5 million, when the stock closed at $184.89. On July 28, it added 5,000 shares and 100 more call options, a combined buy worth $1 million to $2 million, as the stock dipped to $166.84.
The second batch landed the same day Bloom reported strong earnings, including annual revenue growth of 165%, which lifted the shares over the following days.
Why now? On September 4, Bloom Energy was announced as a new S&P 500 member, effective later this month. The stock rose nearly 40% over five days and traded at $282.10 on Tuesday afternoon.
What does Bloom do? The San Jose, California company makes fuel-cell systems, a business booming alongside power-hungry AI data centers. Its stock has more than doubled this year and is up over 400% in the past 12 months, giving it a market cap near $83 billion.
What's the pushback? Pelosi has repeatedly denied insider-trading accusations and backed a ban on congressional stock trading, even as her household account keeps disclosing large trades. "Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions," a spokesperson said.
Scrutiny of the family's trading is not new. Her portfolio returned 65% in 2023, and her husband made $38 million in stock trades before President Trump's inauguration. In early 2023, Senator Josh Hawley introduced a trading ban dubbed the PELOSI Act.
The signal: The episode underscores how weak the guardrails remain. The 2012 STOCK Act requires disclosure of trades over $1,000, but late-filing penalties start at just $200 — and a "Pelosi Tracker" app now lets more than 20,000 users copy the trades, moving an estimated $44 million.
Read more: nypost.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
